William M. Sweetnam practices in the areas of class action and complex litigation and appeals. He has prosecuted hundreds of class actions in federal and state courts across the country, including matters in which he was appointed lead counsel or co-lead counsel. His primary focus is on consumer protection and privacy matters, including class actions brought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), the Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA) as well as cases brought under various state consumer fraud and deceptive business practices acts and federal securities and antitrust laws.

Mr. Sweetnam has been counsel of record in class action lawsuits resulting in recoveries totaling more than $20 billion. Some notable examples include:

Stewart, et al. v. LexisNexis Risk Data Retrieval Services, LLC. Mr. Sweetnam was class counsel in this Fair Credit Reporting Act class action which resulted in a $21.5 million settlement on behalf of 23,000 consumers about whom LexisNexis was alleged to have reported inaccurate civil judgment and lien information in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Kelly v. Old National Bank. Mr. Sweetnam obtained class certification and was appointed lead counsel for the class in this consumer fraud bank overdraft fee class action, ultimately resulting in an all-cash settlement of $4.9 million, representing more than 90% of the class’ damages.

Levey, et al. v. Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.P.I. de C.V. Mr. Sweetnam was class counsel in this consumer fraud class action against Mexican airline Volaris alleging its failure to issue refunds to more than 23,000 passengers whose flights were canceled during the early phases of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although numerous other similar cases were filed against other airlines, Mr. Sweetnam obtained the only all-cash settlement, totaling $3.5 million. 

Prior to joining Siri & Glimstad, Mr. Sweetnam was the managing partner of a Chicago class action litigation boutique and a partner or counsel to other nationally recognized class action firms. He received his B.A. from the University of Michigan and his JD from De Paul University College of Law.